U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., repeatedly stumped one of President Donald Trump's judicial picks with basic legal questions during the nominee's confirmation hearing. That does not bode well for the nominee, Matthew Petersen, whom the president wants to put on the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia.

Petersen, a member of the Federal Election Commission, said he has never tried a case to verdict, conducted a deposition by himself or argued a motion in court. He fumbled through Kennedy's questions about terms such as the Daubert standard, the Younger abstention doctrine and the Pullman abstention doctrine.

When Kennedy asked him about a motion in limine, a common request to exclude certain evidence from trial, Petersen said: "I understand the challenge that would be ahead of me if I were to become a federal district judge." Later he added: "I would probably not be able to give you a good definition."

Petersen is a graduate of Brigham Young University. He obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1999. Kennedy, too, holds a law degree from Virginia.

A Democratic senator, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, made hay of Petersen's performance. He tweeted video of Kennedy's questions and the nominee's attempts to answer them.

The confirmation hearing on Wednesday (Dec. 13) made for the second this year at which Kennedy has, indirectly, sent a message to the White House that it was putting up what he considers to be unqualified lawyers for lifetime appointments to the federal bench.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Petersen's last name.